Blueprint for Educational Excellence and Innovation

LCAP Community Forums

If you are not able to attend one of the LCAP Community Forums, please use the digital survey below to provide your feedback on our Blueprint for Educational Excellence and Innovation and the Local Control Accountability Plan. Thank you for your involvement in our community wide effort to continue to improve actions and services for all student.

The Blueprint House of Learning

The House of Learning is simple, visual representation of the Blueprint for Educational Excellence and Innovation. This graphic is our theory of action highlighting the importance of many systems working together to create the right conditions to transform teaching and learning into an engaging, relevant and personal learning journey. Our goal is that each of the eight strategies work together to build a house of learning that will inspire every student to persevere as a critical thinker to solve real world problems.

2018-2019 Blueprint and LCAP

Please clickHERE (Español) to access the final version of the LCAP for 2018-19.

Please click HERE (Español) to view the final version of the Blueprint for Educational Excellence and Innovation for 2018-19.

Science of Improvement: How to Improve

The Vista Unified School District is committed to continuous improvement in every aspect of the organization from promoting high levels of students achievement, to maintaining safe and secure facilities, to promoting active partnerships with local businesses, to securing access to university admission for all high school graduates. Continuous improvement requires on-going strategic planning. The Model for Improvement we use requires on-going strategic planning, and it is a simple yet powerful tool for accelerating improvement.

The model has two parts:

Three fundamental questions, which can be addressed in any order.

The Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle to test changes in real work settings. The PDSA cycle guides the test of a change to determine if the change is an improvement.

The application of this methodology is organized around three big questions. (See the figure on the right.) The first encourages us to get clear about the specific problem we are trying to solve. The second demands some reasoned explanation about the particular changes to be attempted (given the problem we are trying to solve) and what we expect these changes to accomplish. The third question—how will we know if the changes introduced are actually an improvement—encourages an empirical orientation. We tend to believe in the power of our own ideas; we need data to push back at us and challenge what we believe to be true.

Each plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycle is akin to a mini-experiment. It begins with articulating the change and recording predictions about what we expect will happen (plan); attempting the change and documenting what in fact did happen (do); comparing the results to the predictions (study); and then deciding on what to do next (act). The Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle is shorthand for testing a change in the actions and services provided to students — by planning it, trying it, observing the results, and acting on what is learned. This is the scientific method adapted for action-oriented learning.

Continuous improvement requires on-going strategic planning. The Vista Unified School District completed a year long process of feedback and revision to the Blueprint for Educational Excellence and Innovation intended to ensure that students at all grade levels have access to, and are actively engaged in, a learning path that will lead to a seamless transition into successful college and career opportunities. The annual revision process of the Blueprint started in September and included parents, community members, teachers, staff, and students. All district plans, systems, policies, and procedures are required to align to the strategies outlined in the Blueprint.

The Vista Unified Framework for the Future establishes the anchor points that serve as the foundation for teaching and learning, and other support systems within the school district. The first anchor point is setting a clear vision for the future, providing a sense of direction of where we want to go and what we want to become as school district. The second anchor point is the establishment of a mission that serves to define the overall purpose of the district, outlining specific language of why we exist. The third anchor point is the commitment to a set of values that all members of the school district (parents, students, teachers, and staff) will follow in order to ensure that all learning environments support the positive academic and behavioral growth of all students. The fourth anchor point is establishing a set of beliefs that convert the values to convictions, describing the character of the district as a living organization. The fifth anchor point is establishing strategic parameters that will keep the district focused and efficient, serving as the formula that will lead the district to actualize the vision of becoming The Model for Educational Excellence and Innovation.

Framework for the Future

Vision

Our vision in Vista Unified is to be the model of educational excellence and innovation.

Mission

The purpose of Vista Unified School District is to inspire every student to persevere as a critical thinker who collaborates to solve real world problems.

Values

RESPECT: treating all with dignity

TRUST: having confidence that every decision focuses on the best interests of all students

COLLABORATION: working in a collective partnership with clear two-way dialogue that builds relationships among home, school and the community

Beliefs

We believe that…

All students have a unique capacity to learn.

​Risk taking, effort and perseverance lead to excellence and innovation.

District Goal Setting

In order for the district to make progress toward the vision, and fully implement the mission, the Superintendent works with the School Board Members to set overarching goals that encompass all programs and support systems for students including achievement, language acquisition, service learning, and school attendance, and climate. Above all else, the goals focus on promoting equity in all learning environments. In fact, the School Board has made Equity a key value for our Framework for the Future. These goals are closely aligned to the California State Board of Education priorities for the development of the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP). While all of the goals are important, They were developed in tiers of priority. The highest priority is to ensure that all students have proficiency in English language arts, mathematics, and English language development (Goals 1 and 2). The next level of priorities focus on improving graduation rates, providing experience with service learning, expanding opportunities in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics (STEAM), attendance and behavior (Goals 3, 4, 5 and 6). The final level of priority includes a focus on modeling the district values, improving learning materials and environments, attracting the very best staff and continuing to enhance our reputation for excellence and innovation (goals 7, 8 and 9). Each goal has a specific metric (or metrics) identified to continuously monitor progress toward achieving the goal over time. Click HERE for a detailed overview of the VUSD Goals.

Vista Unified School Board Goals

Strategic Planning

The Blueprint for Educational Excellence and Innovation sets a clear vision for the future, includes a purposeful mission, promotes positive, student centered environments, and identifies goals for what we expect students to achieve. The word blueprint is defined as "a detailed plan or program of action" (Miriam Webster, 2012).

The Vista Unified School District's Blueprint for Education Excellence and Innovation was designed to provide a plan of action for how the daily educational environment will support students to access the California Common Core State Standards and demonstrate attainment of the School Board Goals. Ultimately, greater levels of student access to the standards and engagement in meaningful, personalized learning environments will lead the district towards realizing the vision of becoming the model of educational excellence and innovation. This planning process led to the strategic parameters that define what the organization will do in a specific, methodical, and consistent way to promote high quality teaching and learning. In other words, the strategic planning process focused on identifying the key actions, services, tasks, and projects necessary to realize the Vision, Mission, Values, and Goals. The annual revision of the Blueprint actively engages all stakeholders (students, parents, teachers, and staff) in a series of community forums held to inform and gather input about how to ensure that Vista Unified becomes the model for educational excellence and innovation. All of the feedback gathered from the community forums, as well as feedback gathered from on-line surveys, is utilized during the strategic planning process.

The strategic planning process is labor intensive because it requires the careful consideration and alignment of a the many different voices of the community. The process also carefully identifies who would be involved in each Strategy and Action Plan, what structure is needed to ensure success, how the Blueprint would be monitored and what timelines are needed to keep track of progress.

A parallel project that is updated annually along side the Blueprint is the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP). The LCAP is a component of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF).Each school district and charter school is required to develop an LCAP to identify goals and actions the district will take to ensure that students have access to the California Common Core State Standards and demonstrate high levels of achievement on a variety of state and local assessments. The information for developing the LCAP is taken directly from the Blueprint for Educational Excellence and Innovation. Please visit the Local Control Funding Formula and the Local Control Accountability Plan webpages for more information.

Project Lead

Matt Doyle, Ed.D.

Assistant Superintendent, Innovation

Vista Unified School District

California School Dashboard

The California School Dashboard is complete for the 2018-19 school year. The CA School Dashboard is the accountability element of the Local Control Funding Formula and the Local Control Accountability Plan. The California School Dashboard provides parents and educators with meaningful information on school and district progress so they can participate in decisions to improve student learning. The reports provide a way to track district and school performance through multiple measures that go beyond student test scores. These new reports replace the old California accountability system called the Academic Performance Index (API).

Click HERE to access the California School Dashboard. With this link, you can look-up data for individual schools, the Vista Unified School District or any other school in the state of California, including charter schools.

For more detailed information about student achievement, click HERE to view the Smarter Balanced Consortium (SBAC) Comprehensive Analysis of Results for Vista Unified Spring 2018 Summative Administration. This report represents a comprehensive analysis on scores earned on the most recent administration on the SBAC in May and April as part of California's Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) program. Click HERE for school level reports.

Español

Blueprint Construction Network

The Blueprint Construction Network is a group of student, parent, teacher, and staff representativeswho will monitor the implementation of the Blueprint and Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP). The representatives will collaborate to make recommendations for revisions to the strategies and actions and services based on student achievement and feedback from various community forums. This network of representatives will meet multiple times between September and May. The outcome of the Blueprint Construction Network meetings will be to provide feedback on revisions to the Blueprint and LCAP for the 2019-20 school year. The Superintendent will make the final adjustments to the Blueprint and LCAP and present to the School Board for approval.

The School Board, in keeping with state regulations, will hold a public meeting to review the revisions to the Blueprint and LCAP, and gather feedback from the public. The School Board will hold a separate meeting to formally approved the Blueprint and LCAP no later than June 30, 2019.

The Blueprint Construction Network will be using LCFF Evaluation Rubric Data to evaluate actions and services in a process of continuous improvement. The California School Dashboard is main source of data that influences the revision of the LCAP based on the eight state priorities. The Dashboard includes multiple measures of student success, including test scores, high school graduation rates, college and career readiness indicators, English learner progress and suspension rates. The Dashboard’s multiple indicators give a fuller picture of a school's progress. It also reports on growth to show a school's trajectory over time. Equity is at the heart of the new accountability system and equity indicators are up front and center on the Dashboard. The Dashboard will help schools and districts align resources to student outcomes through Local Control and Accountability Plans.

Each Blueprint Construction Network Meeting will be posted to this webpage to ensure a transparent revision process.

Click (coming in the spring 2019) to view the overall Blueprint and LCAP feedback themes based on a consolidation of the feedback from all of the community forums (students, parents, teachers, administrators, and community members).

Blueprint/ LCAP Fast Facts

Vista Unified developed these fast fact cards to provide a brief overview of the key areas of the Blueprint for Educational Excellence.

These fact cards will be used in the development of the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP). The data on the fast fact cards will be adjusted annually.

Blueprint Tweets

Reaching For Our Vision

Frequently Asked Questions about the Blueprint and LCAP

What is the Blueprint for Educational Excellence and Innovation?

The Blueprint is a plan of action that defines key aspects of the educational environment that are necessary for students to access the California Common Core State Standards and demonstrate attainment of the School Board Goals. In other words, the Blueprint for Educational Excellence and Innovation serves as the district's strategic plan for building learning environments and partnerships that culminate in students' preparation for success in college and career.

What is Local Control Funding Formula?

The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) is the new school funding system identified by the California legislature in Assembly Bill 97 (Chapter 47) that shifts greater control and flexibility to school districts and charter schools for how education funding is allocated to improve student achievement.

What is the Local Control Accountability Plan?

The Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) is the accountability component of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). The LCAP is a three-year plan that outlines the actions the district or charter school will take to ensure that education funding is spent in a careful, focused manner for the purpose of improving achievement for all students; with specific emphasis on students who are faced with challenges such as poverty, English language acquisition, and/or foster care.

What does the "accountability" part of LCAP mean?

All school districts and charter schools are accountable to the California Department of Education to demonstrate annual improvement in eight priority areas: Basic Necessities, Implementation of the Common Core State Standards in English language arts and mathematics, Parental Involvement, Student Achievement, Student Engagement, School Climate, Student Access to Courses, and Other Student Outcomes. Each school district or charter school needs to develop and approve goals that will ensure the eight priorities are a key component of the LCAP plan. Click HERE to access the School Board Goals and alignment to the LCAP Priorities set to monitor increased student achievement.

What is the difference between the Blueprint and the LCAP?

The Blueprint for Educational Excellence and Innovation defines the vision, mission, values, Goals, and Strategic Parameters of Vista Unified School District; setting the foundation upon which specific actions, projects, and programs can be developed based on student needs. In other words, the Blueprint defines who we are as a district. The LCAP is a state requirement that outlines specific actions and services that will take place, using state supplemental and concentration education funding the from the LCFF, to ensure that student achievement improves annually based on eight state priority areas for all student subgroups.

What are the student subgroups?

The state of California requires each school district and charter school to ensure that all students are successful academically and prepared for college and career. In order to ensure that minority student populations receive adequate support to continually improve academically, the California Department of Education requires all school districts and charter schools to report student achievement separated out into subgroups of the overall student population. There are twelve official subgroup populations identified by the state; however, districts need only track student achievement in the subgroups that are numerically significant (typically, 50 students or more who comprise 15% of the total student population).

Racial/Ethnic Subgroups

Black or African American

American Indian

Asian

Filipino

Hispanic or Latino

Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander

White

Two or More Races

Other Subgroups

Socioeconomically disadvantaged students

English learners

Students with disabilities

Foster youth

Who needs to be involved in the development of the LCAP?

School districts must actively engage all stakeholder groups (parents, students, community members, local bargaining units, official committees and staff) in providing feedback on the development of the action items and allocation of resources necessary to support all students to continually improve academically. The involvement of stakeholders can be accomplished through a a variety of methods such as town hall meetings, community forums, on-line surveys, advisory committee updates and feedback sessions, School Board meeting presentations, and website communications. All funding decisions with regard to the LCFF and the district budget need to be aligned to the one or more of the action items identified in the LCAP. Finally, all official district advisory committees have the opportunity to submit feedback. The Superintendent must respond to the feedback from each committee in writing prior to the LCAP being approved by the School Board of Education. Click HERE for more information about the LCAP development process.

What is the timeline for the development of the Blueprint and the LCAP?

The revision of the Blueprint for Educational Excellence and Innovation and LCAP is completed annually. The revision process begins in September each year and must be approved by the School Board no later than June 30th annually. Click HERE for a more detailed view of the Blueprint and LCAP development timeline.

Who should I contact if I have questions about the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF)?

Donna Caperton is the Assistant Superintendent of Business Services for the Vista Unified School District. Click HERE to email Donna Caperton.

Who should I contact if I have questions about the Blueprint for Educational Excellence and Innovation or the LCAP?

Dr. Matthew Doyle is the Executive Director for the Vista Unified School District in charge of the Blueprint and LCAP development process. Click HERE to email Dr. Doyle.

High School Transformation Task Force

Strategy 8 of the Blueprint addresses the need to redefine teaching and learning systems to become more personalized and engaging for students. The High School Transformation Task Force has been formed to research, build awareness, and redesign the learning environment at the high school level so that students are engaged in learning environments that promote the development of critical thinking and collaboration skills needed to solve real world problems. Representatives on the task force will include students, parents, teachers, counselors, community members, and college and university leaders.